The following is an excerpt from the "How to Find Work that Works for You" on-line course. If you would like to enroll in the course, click here.

Sure it’s a tough job market out there. And if you look at it that way you’re only going to see the obstacles. But here are the pure and simple facts. Companies are in business and hiring, the want ads are loaded with jobs, and people move from one company to another and need to be replaced. It may not be the easiest job market out there but, bottom line, there are plenty of jobs to be had. So don’t give yourself any excuses about why you cannot find a job. Someone is going to get hired today.

Why shouldn’t that someone be you?

Well the truth is that it may not be you for a very simple reason. Not because you’re not good enough but because you just don’t know how to find the jobs.

For this, you will not only need to change the way you look at your job search, you will need to change the way you look at yourself. The surest road to not just finding a job but finding a job you LOVE is to understand yourself and your strengths.

The perfect work environment for you. Your dreams and desires. I’ll show you how to really understand that part of yourself so that you don’t just wind up with a paycheck, you wind up with a paycheck for doing something you are passionate about.

Right off the bat, let’s change your mind about what the job search process is and is not. It is NOT a laundry list of jobs you’ve held before. And it is NOT a narrow list of tasks you’ve performed before.

What it IS, is an opportunity for you to convince the person doing the hiring that they will make THEIR lives better by hiring you. It’s all about THEM. What THEY need. And about how YOU are the solution for that need. That’s the bottom line.

OK, that may seem pretty cold so let me give you the second most important thing you need to know about job search that will change the way you look at it forever.

And this one is about you. Here goes.

You do not have to limit your job search to the narrow confines of the positions you have held in the past.

Do not look at your career as a list of tasks you have previously performed. Look at it as a list of Abilities you possess and how you can deploy those Abilities to be an asset to the person doing the hiring. Remember it is not critical that you have held a particular position in the past just to be eligible for a new position.

Want proof? Take the President of the United States of America. No first term President has EVER held that position before. And yet over and over again we vote someone into arguably the most important job on the planet even though they never held that position before. Know why? Because they convinced us that they have the ability to do the job.

They did not list their previous job descriptions while campaigning. They sold us on the Abilities they possess, abilities we would be looking for in a President. So let’s break it down. Let’s build YOUR list of abilities so that you will have a deeper understanding of your own worth and many proven tools for communicating that value to potential employers.

How to Identify Your Abilities

Let’s stick with the example of the President of the United States for a minute.

Let’s take a look at how one individual convinces us to “hire” them for one of the most important jobs on the planet even though THEY HAVE NEVER HELD THAT JOB BEFORE. How do they do that?

Here’s how. They convince us of their Abilities and they demonstrate to us how they have deployed those Abilities successfully in the past in ways that meet the needs of the current job.

For instance, one of the key Abilities we want and need in a President is to be a strong negotiator. Did the candidate successfully negotiate Middle East peace in their last job as Governor of the State of Wherever? Of course not. But their ability to successfully negotiate with labor unions that broke a critical strike during the winter holiday season thereby sparing their state a complete shutdown of services shows us that they CAN negotiate. So that’s what you hear about on the campaign trail. Over and over again. They successfully drive home the point of their Abilities.

You’re getting the point now. So let’s take a look at how this applies to you. Start by thinking about skills you currently possess or skills that have been required of you in the past (and this doesn’t just have to be skills related to jobs as you’ll soon see).

Let’s say, for example, that you had to prepare the monthly sales report for senior management. Don’t get bogged down with the specificity of “sales report for senior management”. What were the skills you needed, and had, that allowed you to do that job successfully? What were the Abilities that were required of you, and that you possessed, in order to succeed at that job?

An example of those Abilities might be:

• Good at aggregating complex information

• Good at organizing diverse information for easy consumption

• Detail oriented

• Thorough

You see where I’m going with this. Not once did I say “I prepared the monthly sales report for senior management.” That just sounds like secretarial work. Look at that list above. That’s a person with value. That’s an individual who can deploy those characteristics in any number of ways to become an asset to the company. Those Abilities are not specific just to one task. They can become an asset to the company in any number of ways. You are communicating your value rather than listing tasks you have performed.

Ok, so let’s get you started on compiling your own list of Abilities. This should NOT be a short list. Really dig in. Go back to your baby sitting/car washing days if you need to. Back then you were:

• Self-motivated/self-starter

• Responsible

• Reliable

• Marketed yourself effectively

Come on people. Give yourself some props. You’ve done some amazing things in your past. Just the fact that you’ve downloaded this course shows that you are:

• Diligent

• Serious

• A good researcher

• Committed

And the list goes on.

In order to help you get started, here’s a list of potential Abilities. Find the ones that apply to you but don’t limit yourself to this list. Add any and every ability that applies to you. Don’t be humble. This is not the time for humility. That’s NOT what your potential employer is looking for. They want to hire someone who knows their own self-worth and can articulate it clearly and appropriately (which means without bragging). You should be able to talk about your abilities with humility and absolute comfort. If you’re a responsible person, say so. If you’re good with numbers, let them know. You must believe in the product that you are selling in order to sell it successfully. And that product right now is YOU. If you don’t believe in yourself and your potential, you will never convince anyone else to believe in you.

And why shouldn’t you believe in yourself? When you take a look at the list of Abilities you put together you’re going to understand what I mean. You are capable. You are employable. You will be an asset on someone’s team. You just need to learn the tools to communicate that.

My Abilities List

• Problem Solver

• Honest

• Reliable

• Confident

• Friendly

• Outgoing

• Active

• Inspirational

• Competitive

• Energetic

• Motivational

• Self-Starter

• Loyal

• Trustworthy

• Hard Working

• Professional

• Discreet

• Compassionate

• Leader

• Team Player

• Likes People

• Introvert

• Extrovert

• Bold

• Organized

• Multi-Tasker

• Artistic

• Negotiator

• Writer

• Manager

• Speaker

• Trainer

• Good with Hands

• Innovator

• Creative

• Frugal

Homework

So let’s get started building that critical list of Abilities. Now that you understand that the most crucial element when selling yourself is recognizing your own value, let’s get that list started. Do not be humble. Do not worry about length. Think about every skill you have acquired, task you have completed, and function you have succeeded in. Compile a list, a long list, of all the extraordinary traits that make up extraordinary you. You’ve got a sample list above to get you started. But don’t limit yourself to that list. Really think hard.

Ask friends and family to help you build the list. Ask them what they think your most outstanding traits are. Ask them what they see as your strengths. Ask them what they think your Abilities are.

And remember this:

Your gifts were given to you to share. You are here with those specific gifts because the rest of us need them. We need you. The only way you can be of service to the rest of us is to be conscious of your own Abilities (which you might also want to look at as gifts). If you can clearly articulate your abilities, your gifts, you are more likely to utilize those gifts in the service of others. Knowledge is power. Know yourself. Only then will you begin to understand what it is you can do in this world to make a contribution. Then this no longer looks like a job search. It looks like what it really is. You, in the world, sharing your gifts.